My beautiful Mosaic, decked out and ready for nearly 3,000 miles of action.

"Idle hands are the devil's workshop," it says in Proverbs. So while I wait patiently to leave for tomorrow's drive down to New Mexico, I thought I'd fill some of the time with a last post on Rambleur before my northbound Tour Divide start. Here's a look at the bike and some of the gear I'm using this year. I have utter confidence in all my equipment, in terms of reliability and my ability to keep it rolling smoothly underneath my tired legs.

The cockpit: navigation, lighting, charging, and nutrition all within reach.

I met up with Salsa athlete Jay Petervary on his way to Emporia for Dirty Kanza. He handed off a dozen top caps that award each Tour Divide racer two slices of pie in Pie Town, NM. Honored to help!

I find reminders of why I do these types of events helpful. Mike Hall's passing was a tragedy but helps me keep things in perspective. #rideformike

I'm carrying most of my spares kit here this year. It's super handy and keeps weight low. In a pinch I can also put it in my seat bag and use it to carry a 5th water bottle.

Using the light mounting points on the Ortlieb Seat Pack to mount my Spot Tracker. With an old Genuine Innovations Big Air mounting block and a couple Velcro straps I have a nice, secure way to carry it and with a good line of sight to the sky.

I like to adjust my seat height based on how I'm feeling. If I'm loose and relaxed, it'll be higher, if I'm tight it'll go down. Why not put on a quick release and save the time of pulling out an Allen wrench? This is a bit of an experiment. Time will tell.

My frame was made in Boulder, but the localism doesn't end there. This is the sticker for this year's Butter Gold Ride, a social 80-miler on gravel roads north of town. Had a blast riding to the event, joining others, and then cruising home for a nice, long day on some of my favorite roads. Thanks Mike and Paul!

Our riding crew is lead by the Barchecks, Aaron and Liz, who had a knack for ruining legs with gnarly rides. Once you've survived a few rough days, you can earn your "Barchecked" merit badge. A reminder to smile through the pain!

Info overload is entirely possible when prepping for 2,700 miles of self-supported racing. I put together 2 documents to help me with pacing and resupplies. The pacing notes may go straight into a trash can if weather throws me some big curve balls. But doing the research required to make them was extremely educational. I also carry all the cables necessary to reboot and upload to my Garmin GPS devices.

Here's my sleep system. I use a Borah Gear bivy, Exped pad and pillow, and an Enlightened Equipment quilt. The small yellow ball is a bag used to inflate the sleeping pad. There's a mosquito net to help with both sleep and on-bike insect encounters. Inside the bivy, you can see a small yellow pocket. I stuck that to the inside of the bivy and keep ear plugs in it.